Thermostatic gas-detecting means.



. v PATENTEDMAR.15,1904.

J. E. BALDWIN. THERMOSTATIG GAS DETECTING MEANS.

APPLICATION PIL'ED SEPT. 10, 1902.

- 2 SHEETSS-H'EET 1 N0 MODEL.

INVENTEIR V WITNEEEEEJ nms PETERS co, wurggfycn. msmwmou. n. c.

' No. 754,534. I PATENTBD MAR. 15, 1904.

' J. B. BALDWIN.

THERMOSTATIO GAS DETECTING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 10 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

FIE. E. ,Q U

A Q v V mi l".- 7

. r la mum- / 50 I I m \7TNE55E INVEETUR E z:

"m: mums PETERS m, Puomumw WASHIZiGTON n c Patented March 15, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES EDWARD BALDWIN, OF EAST VVILLISTON, NEW YORK.

THERIVIOSTATIC GAS-DETECTING MEANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 754,534, dated March15, 1904.

Application filed September 10, 1902. Serial No. 122,836. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES EDWARD BALD- WIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of East Williston, in the county of Nassau andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inThermostatic Gas-Detecting Means, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to thermostatic gasdetecting means for indicatingthe escape of unburned gas from a burner; and its main object is toprovide a device of this type in which the difference in temperature atthe burner, according as the. gas is lighted or unlighted, is utilizedto operate an indicator and show whether the gas is" being burned as itflows out or is escaping unconsumed.

In'carrying my invention into effect any suitable device responsive tothe difference in temperature between a lighted and an unlighted burnermay be employed as the principal controlling element, and it isimmaterial what physical or other property of this element is responsiveto such a difference in temperature, provided that some property orcharacteristic possessed by it is sensibly affected and is responsive tosuch a diiference in temperature at the burner. This element may be, forexample, an element of an electric circuit and may have a resistancevariable in accordance with such a change in temperature, and thisvariation in resistance may be employed to indicate the lighted orunlighted condition of the burner, or said controlling element may be athermostatic switch controlling an electric circuit and adapted tochange its position in accordance with such a change'in temperature, andthis is the means employed in the present case for transmittingindications of the condition of the burner, although other similardevices which will suggest themselves may be employed for the samepurpose.

My invention is specially designed and intended for use in hotels andsimilar large buildings having many sleeping apartments to indicate notonly the escape of unconsumed gas from some one of the burners in thebuilding, but also the particular apartment in which such gas isescaping from, a burner, and in the event that the gas is put out orblown out by accident or design such fact will be signaled almostimmediately to an indicator located at a suitable point, and the rescueof any person or persons in such apartment may beefi'ected beforeasphyxiation results.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming part of thepresent application, Figure 1 is an enlarged sectional side elevation ofa gas-burner and a gas-controlling valve having my invention appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a system including a series ofgas-burners protected by my improved thermostatic controlling device.Similar characters designate like parts in both figures 'of thedrawings.

The controlling means employed by me may be applied to any ordinary orsuitable form of gasburner; but in the present drawings I have shown atype of burner ordinarily attached to the piping of an illuminating-gassystem. As shown, a burner, such as B, is screwed onto the end of asection of pipe in the usual manner, and a controlling valve or cook,such as C, is also applied to the piping substantially in the usual way.

My improved controlling device,which is intended to respond todifference in temperature between a lighted and an unlighted burner, ispreferably applied directly to the body portion or pillar of the burnerB, which pillar is closed at its upper end by a tip 6 of any suitabletype. In the present case the burnerpillar has at one side thereof aprojecting piece 2, which is bored transversely to the pillar to receivecertain elements of the controlling device. One of these-elements is ashort insulating sleeve or bushing, (designated by 3,) through which ispassed a metallic member, preferably in the form of a bindingscrew i,having a contact 4: at the head end thereof. The head of thisbinding-screw may be insulated from the metal portion of theburner-pillar by an insulatingwasher 5,which in this case is separatefrom the bushing 3,

' and a similar washer, such as 6, may insulate ametal lock-nut 7 and ametal binding-screw or cap 8 from such burner-pillar. The contact 4 isin this case one of a pair which control one break in an electriccircuit for signaling whether the gas issuing from the burner is lightedor unlighted, and the other contact is preferably carried by acircuit-controller responsive to the difference in temperature between alighted and unlighted burner. Any device which may change its positionor may change one of its physical or other characteristics in accordancewith such variations in temperature maybe associated with the burner togovern one point or break in an electric circuit; but I prefer to employathermostatic switch for this purpose, preferably a composite switchbarmade up of elements having different coefficients of expansion, thedifferent elements or metals composing the switch -bar being preferablyso placed as to cause the switchbar to bend toward or away from thecontact 4 to close or open an electric circuit at that point, accordingas the burner-pillar is cold or hot. Such a switch-bar is shown hereinat s and consists in this case of two strips, preferablymetallic. Themain strip is designated by 9 and in this case is made from metal havinga greater coefiicient of expansion than the strip 10, to which it isunited. It being understood that both of these strips 9 and 10 aresecurely united or fastened together, the

switch will bend away from the contact 4" when the burner-pillar is hot,and this will cause the metallic contact 12 to break the circuit betweenit and the contact 4, the circuit remaining open until the light isextinguished, when the burner will cool off and the switch will resumethe position shown in Fig. 1, which is the position it occupies when thegas is not turned on and is also the position occupied by it when gas isescaping without being consumed. If the valve C is open, the cool gasescaping from the burner will reduce the temperature of theburner-pillar rapidly and the switch-bar will quickly make contact withthe point 4, and this closing of the circuit at the burner will beindicated at some suitable point in a manner which will be hereinafterdescribed. The switch 8 may be secured to the burner-pillar in anysuitable manneras, for example, by screws 15-it being desirable to havemetallic connection between the controlling thermostatic switch and thepiping of the system.

The parts just described are suflicient for the purpose of indicatingwhether the burner is hot or coldthat is, whether the gas is lighted orunlighted; but they are not suflicient to indicate whether the gas isturned ofl or on when the burner is cold. For the purpose ofaccomplishing this result it is necessary to provide means forcontrolling an electric circuit at two diiferentpoints, one of thesepoints being controlled by an electrical device governed by the valve orcock by means of which the gas is turned off or on, while the otherpoint in the circuit should be controlled by a device responsive to thedifference in temperature between a lighted and an unlighted burner.Obviously one point or break in such a circuit may be controlled by anelectric switch governed by the gas controlling valve, while the otherpoint or break in the circuit may be governed by a thermostaticcontrolling device responsive to differences in temperature. When anelectric circuit is controlled conjointly by two such devices, it willbe seen that it may be readily determined whether the gas is turned offor whether gas is escaping without being consumed, because theelectrical conditions at two points in the circuit will have to bechangedthat is, two breaks in a circuit will have to be closed in thiscase before the current flowing in the circuit will indicate the escapeof unburned gas.

The device which operates in conjunction with the gas-controlling valveC is preferably a simple contact-arm or spring-contact 18, secured toand insulated from the piping, it being fastened in this case to a block19 of insulating material secured to the valve-fitting by screws 20. Thecontact which cooperates with the contact-spring 18 is also preferablysupported by the block 19, so as to be insulated from the piping, and isin this case a contactpin 21. The break in the circuit, which iscontrolled by said spring and its contact-pin, is closed or open,according as the spring is operated by the valve C, and in thisconstruction the valve-body carries a pin 22, which moves therewith andraises the spring 18 from the contact 21 when the valve is closed andpermits said spring to engage said contact-pin 21 and close the circuitas soon as the operating-pin 22 withdraws from the spring 18 at thebeginning of the opening movement of such valve. Two pins, as shown, maybe used, if desired.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated the manner in which a plurality ofcontrolling devices may be connected in circuit to indicate selectivelythe condition of each gas-burner. Five burners (designated,respectively, by B, B, B B and B) are shown in this view connected inparallel branches 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 of a main electricalcontrolling-circuit, the outgoing and return conductors of which aredesignated, respectively, by 35 and 36, both of these conductors beingproperly grounded and the former having therein a source of energy orbattery [2. Each of the pipes leading from the burners is also inmetallic connection with the outgoing conductor 35, said pipes beingconnected thereto by conductors 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44. Each of theparallel branch conductors 30, 620., also contains in circuit therewiththe coils of a relay, these relays being designated, respectively, by7*, 0', 7' 0' and 9', these relays controlling suitable indicators,which are preferably a series of lamps, such as 2 a, 2' 2' and a,connected in parallel be tween the mains m and m of anincandescent-light circuit or signaling-circuit supplied with currentfrom a source of energy or motor M. The switch-arm of each relaycontrols one of the branches of this signalingcircuit or light-circuit,and the indicators or lamps z to i will burn or remain dark, accordingas the gasissuing from the respective burners is unlighted or lighted.The binding-post or cap 8 (shown in Fig. 1) of each thermostaticcontrolling device is connected by a short conductor, suchas 50, 51,52,53, or 54:, to the corresponding contact 21 on the piping to which suchburner is attached, and the conductors 30 to 84, inclusive, areconnected to the respective switch-arms 18, the end of each conductor30, &c., being coiled around one of the binding-screws 18. It isobvious, however, that the conductors 30, &c., might be connected to thecontact-pins and the conductors 50, &c., to the contact-springs.

Other types of indicating devices than the lamps d, &c., may be usedeither alone or in conjunction with the lamps, all of which indicatingdevices should be arranged at some suitable common point in order thatthe escape of unburned gas may be immediately indicated to an attendantwhen the signal-lamp burns or such other visible, audible, or othersignaling device as may be employed is operated.

From the foregoing description, considered in connection with thedrawings, it will be apparent that in my improved system of indicatingthe escape of unconsumed illuminating-gas all the signal-lamps willnormally be dark'(except for the moment or two after the lighting ofeach burner, when the corresponding lamp will glow for a few moments asthe result of the closing of two breaks in its branch circuit) until thelight at a burner is extinguished. If such light is extinguished in theordinary manner-that is, by turning the cock and shutting off the flowof gasone break in the branch circuit will be opened and thecorresponding signaling device or lamp will remain dark. If, however,such light is extinguished by accident or design without turning off theflow of gas, the corresponding thermostatic controlling device willalmost immediately cool off as a result of the cooling of the burner,due partly to the mere extinguishing of the light and partly to theefflux of unconsumed cool gas, and this controlling device will changethe electrical condition of the branch circuit in this case by closingthe second break in the circuit, and as the other break in such branchcircuit is always closed when the gas-controlling valve is open theindicator corresponding to such burner will be immediately operated. InFig. 2 the burner B is unlighted and the valve is open, and hence boththe breaks between the branch conductors 31 and 41 are closed by thethermo static switch and the valve-controlled switch, thus permittingcurrent to flow from the battery 6 through the helix of the relay 1",which causes the switch-arm of said relay to close the branchsignaling-circuit or light-circuit and the automatic turning on of thelamp 6. This indicator being properly designated to correspond to thelocation of the burner B, the point at which gas is escaping isimmediately apparent and investigation may be made at once.

My improved thermostatic controlling device and system is simple andpositive in operation and requires no delicate adjustment of its partsto operate properly,the principal controlling element being preferablycontained within and protected by the burner and being immediatelyresponsive to the cooling or heating of said burner. Moreover, this maincontrolling element is unchanged by repeated heating and cooling and isstrong and very durable, in all of which respects it differs from allother types of gas-detecting devices with which I am familiar.

What I claim is The combination with a system of gas-lighting embodyinga plurality of gas-burners each having a valve control-ling the flow ofgas therefrom, of an electrical controlling-circuit having parallelbranches each of which has two breaks, valve-operated electric switchescontrolling one set of breaks in said branch circuits, thermostaticcircuit-controllers carried by said burners and governing the other setof breaks in said branch circuits, relays governed respectively by saidparallel branches of the controlling-circuit and each embodying anelectromagnet and a switch-barv secured to the armature of saidelectromagnet, and an electric-lighting system comprising anincandescent-light circuit having a plurality of lamps connected innormally open branch circuits corresponding in number to said burnersand controlled respectively by the switch-bars of said relays.

' Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 4th day of September, A. D. 1902. 1

JAMES EDWARD BALDWIN. Witnesses:

Y C. S; CHAMPION,

EDGAR A. FELLows.

